


Singing

by JayceCarter



Series: Soulmates in the Wasteland [6]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Fluff, Insecurity, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-05 19:12:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11584389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayceCarter/pseuds/JayceCarter
Summary: Ham doesn't think he deserves Magnolia, and one quiet night, she decides to set him straight.





	Singing

**Author's Note:**

> This is a short one shot set in the Soulmates in the Wasteland series. It can be read no matter what else you've read in the series. Mostly, I just needed a little bit of sweet fluff with all the angst in my other pieces, hah.
> 
> ALSO, in this version, Magnolia is a human. :)

Ham’s gaze met the closed door of the bedroom he and Magnolia shared, but he didn’t enter. Whiskey burned his throat as he swallowed, but the sting dimmed the pain in his head.

 

Seeing Hancock and Scarlett had his chest aching. Twelve years with Magnolia taught him having a mate as a ghoul hurt. She was growing older and he wasn’t. She was beautiful and he wasn’t. She was everything and he wasn’t.

 

“Hey there, sweetheart.” His Magnolia, his love, the woman he’d never deserved.

 

He finished the rest of his whiskey in one gulp. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

 

Gone was her trademark red dress. She wore that on stage, when she belonged to a room of drunks. Here? She wore a large shirt of his, and she belonged only to him.

 

She slid into his lap and brushed her lips against where his used to be. Did the burns bother her? Did taking the rad-x take a toll on her? Was she just good at hiding it?

 

“You’re thinking too much. Talk to me, honey.” She pressed her forehead against his

 

“Do you ever think about what your life would have been like without me? I think about it sometimes. You could have had a better life than living inside an old bar with an old ghoul.”

 

She ran her hands over his cheeks, thumbs catching the edges of his burns before she slid them behind his head. “Is that what has you in here drinking alone? What-ifs? It’s been twelve years, Ham, we should be past that.”

 

“Guess you never get past worrying you ain’t good enough. Spend all day watching people want you, watching them fantasize about you, and wondering if they’d be better for you. So, tell me, Mags. Where would you be if I wasn’t here holding you back?”

 

“If you weren’t mine, I’d be trying to win you.”

 

“Don’t lie to me. We both know you’re out of my league.”

 

“You’re a fool, but you’ve always been my fool. You watch over me ever night, my own guardian angel who sees the best in me. All those people only see my red dress and my cleavage and my voice. You see the rest of me, the real me. I don’t get on that stage and perform for anyone else, I do it for you. Every song, ever note, it’s for you. If I didn’t have you, I don’t think I’d sing a single note.”

 

He released the breath he’d been holding, allow it to shudder out along with his fears. The fears were a disease he could never cure, but she treated it with soft words and touches, made him well enough for a while before they crippled him again. 

 

Magnolia stood up and took his hands in hers. “Come on.”

 

“Where are we going?”

 

The neckline of her shirt fell over one shoulder as she pulled him toward the bed. “I want to give you a private performance.”

 

Ham gave up resisting her. What was the point? She always melted his resolve. He didn’t deserve her, could never deserve her, but he’d never throw it away. He was too selfish for that. She was his, the only thing in the world that was all his, and all the what-ifs in the world wouldn’t loosen his grip.

 

 He laid her on the bed, settling above her, smiling down at the woman he loved. “Oh Mags, I’ll have you singing soon.”  


End file.
